A much-loved pub in one of the Northumberland coast's most popular villages looks set to lose part of its outdoor seating area after council planners recommended refusal on a retrospective planning application.
The Craster Arms in Beadnell's outdoor area, known as The Nest Bar and containing "garden pods" was installed during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the pub met with regulations and could continue trading. It also provided customers with safe, socially distanced areas to drink and dine.
Owner Michael Dawson says the pub needed the pods to survive following the difficult months when the hospitality trade had to shut up shop during lockdown, and so planning permission was not sought due to time constraints.
Since then the pub has applied for retrospective planning permission - but Northumberland County Council planners have recommended the application be refused, meaning the pods would have to be removed. The application is seeking retrospective permission for an outdoor timber serving building and four all weather "restaurant sheds" on a temporary basis.
The plans are due to go before councillors next week at a meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council. For the owner, it is particularly disappointing given amount of money invested in the pods as the level of support from both the local community and further afield.
Mr Dawson said: "It's very disappointing and very upsetting. We had to make big changes in the industry, and it was a direct and immediate response to what we were faced with.
"People had to be provided with safety and security of being able to dine in isolation. There was a very high element of design that went into it, I would estimate the cost to be around £140,000.
"The reason an application didn't go in at the time was because it was essential for survival."
The officer's report recommending refusal states that the dining cabins have an "overall impact" of clutter" and adds that there is an impact on the setting of the Grade II listed building. The report continues to state that the "siting of five structures within the setting of the building has resulted in harm to its aesthetic and historic significance."
It also points out that Covid restrictions have not been lifted and that it is "officer opinion that Covid related adjustments are not sufficient to justify the type of development proposed."
Mr Dawson disputes those points, arguing that the dining cabins have been decorated in local colours and using images of local saints with input from the village's church group.
He added: "The case officer seems to think Covid is over and that couldn't be further from the truth. We get daily calls from vulnerable people, elderly people who have a desire to come out and dine, but are still very concerned about it and want to dine in a safe space.
"That's not going to stop any time soon. It is a service that we provide to our customers and it is a vital part of the business."
The Craster Arms has created a petition ahead of next week's planning meeting calling on councillors to reconsider, which has been signed more by more than 1,000 people from the local community and from further afield.
The application will be debated on June 23 at the Main Hall in St James United Reformed Church in Alnwick at 2pm. The meeting is open to the public.
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